# PLAN.md — Slovak translation of Outer Wilds Roadmap for building the mod. Status markers: ✅ done · 🚧 in progress · ⬜ todo. ## Goal Add **Slovenčina** as a fully selectable language to *Outer Wilds*, covering the **base game and the *Echoes of the Eye* DLC**, distributed as an Outer Wilds Mod Manager mod. Quality target: natural, consistent Slovak — not literal machine output. ## Approach - Built on **xen-42's Localization Utility / Interplanetary Polyglot** (`xen.LocalizationUtility`) — register a new language from one `Translation.xml`. No game files needed to build. - **Translation:** machine-assisted first pass (clean-room, no third-party translation text reused), then a **Slovak-speaking human review pass**. Phased by category so partial releases are usable: **UI/menus → dialogue/text walls → ship log**. - **Scope:** the single ~896 KB `Translation.xml` already contains base game + DLC strings together, so scope is "everything," sequenced internally by category. ## Phases ### Phase 1 — Repo scaffold & docs ✅ `README.md`, `CLAUDE.md`, `PLAN.md`, and MIT `LICENSE` in place. ### Phase 2 — Mod skeleton ✅ Created the OWML mod shell, modelled on [`shippy/outer-wilds-czech`](https://github.com/shippy/outer-wilds-czech): - `manifest.json` — `author: Homer`, `uniqueName: Homer.SlovakTranslation`, `name`, `version`, `owmlVersion`, `dependencies: ["xen.LocalizationUtility"]`. - `ILocalizationAPI.cs` — interface copied from the utility. - `SlovakTranslation.cs` — `ModBehaviour` calling `api.RegisterLanguage(this, "Slovenčina", "assets/Translation.xml")`. - `SlovakTranslation.csproj` / `.sln`, `.gitignore`, empty `assets/`. - Optional: GitHub/Gitea release workflow. ### Phase 3 — Import English source ✅ Imported the base English `Translation.xml` (896 KB, 2424 entries, keys == values) from the utility repo into `assets/`. This is the file to translate. > Build verified: `dotnet build -c Release` compiles against the `OWML` / > `OuterWildsGameLibs` NuGet packages (no game install needed) and stages a > loadable mod folder (`SlovakTranslation.dll` + `manifest.json` + > `default-config.json` + `assets/Translation.xml`) in `bin/`. ### Phase 4 — Glossary 🚧 First draft of `docs/glossary.md` in place: tone/register locked (informal *ty*), and SK renderings proposed for the proper nouns and recurring terms below. Rows marked `❓ review` still need the Slovak-speaking review pass to finalize. Write `docs/glossary.md` fixing SK renderings (or keep-in-English decisions) for proper nouns and recurring terms, e.g.: Nomai, Hearthian, the Eye / Eye of the Universe, Ash Twin Project, Vessel, Black Hole Forge, Quantum Moon, Sun Station, ship log, Nomai statue, Ember Twin, Ash Twin, Timber Hearth, Brittle Hollow, Giant's Deep, Dark Bramble, Interloper, Stranger (DLC), Owlk/"Owlks" (DLC). Decide tone/register (informal *ty* vs. formal) and lock it here. ### Phase 5 — Translate `` entries 🚧 Machine-assisted pass → human review, by category (UI/menus → dialogue → ship log), base + DLC. Preserve all `<color=…>`/`<i>` markup, entities, and speaker prefixes. Track progress and any hard-to-translate lines here or in issues. Progress by category (source has 3 sections — the flat `` list = dialogue/ text walls, `` = ship log, `` = UI/menus): - **UI/menus (``, 814 entries) — ✅ machine-assisted first pass done, place-name terms reviewed & locked.** All values translated; integer `` IDs untouched; `\n`, `<!>` input-prompt tokens, `<Profile Name>` placeholder, and color/italic markup preserved; XML re-verified well-formed. Casing mirrors the source (ALL-CAPS button labels stay caps). A consistency re-pass applied the locked glossary terms (Scout → *Skaut*, Signalscope → *Signáloskop*, Timber Hearth → *Drevený kozub*, Ash/Ember Twin → *Dvojča Popolu / Dvojča Uhlíka*, etc.). Remaining: a general Slovak review of the non-proper-noun phrasings. - **Ship log (``, 483 entries) — ✅ machine-assisted first pass done.** All values translated (location names + rumor/fact entries); string `` lookups untouched; plain text (no markup). Narrator voice locked to masculine; ship-log place names locked in the glossary (§3, §5b). XML re-verified well-formed; mod builds. **Still needs the Slovak review pass.** - **Dialogue / text walls (flat `` list, 2423 entries) — 🚧 in progress.** Batched by **content type** (not planet — the flat list is asset-ID ordered): Nomai lore/wall-text (by speaker) → Hearthian villagers → travelers → player/system/DLC. Preserve `<color=…>`/`<i>`/`<size=…>` markup, template tokens (`<Pause/>`, `<TimeMinutes>`, `<NbTimeloops>`, `<…SinceRedGiant>`), `\n`, speaker prefixes, and per-entry whitespace. - **Batch 1 — Solanum (70 lines) ✅** — Quantum Moon pilgrim: astronomy-museum walls, Tower of Quantum Knowledge / Quantum Shrine, Eye philosophy. Feminine voice. Applied by key; XML re-verified; builds. - **Batch 2 — Vessel / warp-core debate (29 lines) ✅** — the Nomai clan debating how to obtain the advanced warp core for the Ash Twin Project (Oeno, Clary, Poke, Idaea, Avens, Cassava, Spire, Mitis) + Poke's personal reflections + the Vessel's escape-pod launch / crash computer log. Poke & Clary feminine, Annona masculine. - **Batch 3 — Orbital Probe Cannon (50 lines) ✅** — Construction Yard cyclones (Conoy, Spire, Cassava), building/firing the cannon (Cassava, Daz, Mallow, Privet, Avens, Yarrow), the "let's send a probe" decision, and the cannon's damage-report / launch-log system text. Avens masc, Ramie fem. Preserved `<TimeMinutes>`/`<TimeSeconds>` tokens and the "on the other appendage" Nomai joke. - **Batch 4 — Ash Twin Project warp mechanism (53 lines) ✅** — warp-tower alignment lore, White Hole Station tutorial, tower designs, ore/shell construction, warp-core-source debate (Yarrow, Clary, Poke, Root, Phlox, Oeno, Cycad, Annona, Ramie, Ilex). Pye fem, Plume masc. (Sun Station debate, firing, failure + memory statues still to come.) - **Batch 5 — Sun Station + memory statues (61 lines) ✅** — the Sun Station build debate (Idaea/Pye/Ramie/Poke), Pye's supernova/"gas" humor, the firing orders, the failure aftermath, and the memory statues + masks (Phlox, Daz, Yarrow, Ramie, Oeno, Root). Idaea masc. Preserved the 1304 countdown tokens (`<RemainingMinutes>`…) + `\n` and `<TimeMinutes>`/`<TimeSeconds>`. - **Batch 6 — High Energy Lab (42 lines) ✅** — the negative-time-interval experiments (Pye & Ramie), the white/black-hole-core setup, the 22-minute hypothesis, and the High Energy Lab / Sunless City labels + distance markers. Kept Pye/Ramie's "gas / aeriform" state-of-matter puns (flagged for review) and Conoy's "lose his head" joke. - Remaining: ~358 other Nomai speaker lines + ~1760 Hearthian/player lines. Terminology change (applied file-wide): **Black Hole Forge → Kováreň čiernych dier** (was *Zlieváreň čiernej diery*) — 15 occurrences across ship log + dialogue. ### Phase 6 — Diacritic / font check ⬜ Verify the stock game font renders all Slovak glyphs (á ä č ď é í ĺ ľ ň ó ô ŕ š ť ú ý ž). Only if any are missing: build a font asset bundle in **Unity 2019.4.27f1** and wire `api.AddLanguageFont(...)`. ### Phase 7 — Build & in-game test ⬜ **Prerequisite:** install *Outer Wilds* + Outer Wilds Mod Manager + OWML (none are on this machine yet). Then `dotnet build`, load via the Mod Manager, select Slovenčina, and verify menus, dialogue, and ship log render correctly. ### Phase 8 — Release ⬜ Tag a Gitea release; optionally submit to the Outer Wilds mod database so the mod appears in the Mod Manager for everyone. ## Open items / risks - **Font coverage** for Slovak-specific glyphs (ľ ĺ ŕ ô ä) is unverified until in-game testing (Phase 6/7). - **Translation volume is the real cost** — ~896 KB of source text. A Slovak-speaking review pass is essential, especially for DLC/dialogue nuance, puns, and Nomai text-wall length constraints. - **In-game testing is blocked** until the game + Mod Manager are installed locally. - Confirm the tone/register decision (Phase 4) early — reworking it later is costly. ## References - Localization Utility / Interplanetary Polyglot (framework, MIT, source template): https://github.com/xen-42/outer-wilds-localization-utility - Czech mod (structure reference): https://github.com/shippy/outer-wilds-czech - OWML: https://github.com/ow-mods/owml - Mod Manager: https://outerwildsmods.com/mod-manager/